Van Life Adventures

Sections & Lessons Learned:

Kitchen

The original design for space included thoughts about rainy weather. Because it rains here in Washington State I thought I needed a full kitchen. Although I had a stove inside the van I did most of my cooking outside.

The new design was meant to cut down on the space.

Natural Light

Many of my decisions about what to buy or what modifications to make to the van was based upon being stealthy. Which meant no one can see in or out of the van. At night while boon-docking, without Ollie, I would find sleeping at night challenging.

Foam board. Was easy to shape, can insulate at night, but gets really hot during the day.

Custom curtain rod for my blackout curtains

Reflex it – It blocks heat, cold and light.

Natural light to me is way better.

I wanted to bring more light into the van and in 2019 I started that work by replacing the black foam with custom curtains and rods and a headliner which wrapped the entire living space in UV protection/blackout curtains. There were a number of benefits I experienced by wrapping the space (boxed) in this type of curtain.

1. The temperature inside the van remained cool in the summer and held heat inside the van much longer.
2. I have the privacy I want and can easily let as much light into the van as I want by sliding the curtain open.
3. Solved the problem of, I need a light on because it’s always to dark in here. I save more battery.

Let’s look at some highlights of the changes I made.

Bedroom

There were several problem with the previous bed designs.

1. I couldn’t easily entertain others.
2. There was only space for one person, me.
3. It was always difficult to get to storage areas.
4. Not enough space under the bed for storage.
5. Stored items are hard to find – usually causing things to get shuffled around.
6. The bed was just too short.
7. Watching movies was not a comfortable experience
8. The 720p TV wasn’t a great choice for playing movies from my MacBook

Here’s how that was improved.

• • I removed the entertainment center in the middle of the van’s ceiling which gave me an additional 6 inches of head room. Because of that change I was able to raise the bed higher.
  • the stowaway compartment at the rear was turned into a trunk storage while the other side became a 2 foot deep drawer.
  • Easy access to stowaway compartments
  • The bed is on wheel when rolled back turns into a 6 person bench and provides an additional 4 feet of open space to move around.

Office

The office is now called The Entertainment Center and is now an integral part of the van’s system. Multiple HDMI devices can connect and display in high definition.

The Entertainment Center

• • 5 volt dc computer monitor with built in speakers
  • 5 volt dc mini computer
  • 2 power station (outlets) with hdmi connections
  • Movies, ebooks
  • Full operating system with productivity software & internet access
  • laptop/tablet phone station
  • cup holder
  • 12o vac/ 12vdc power station

Ceiling bracket

The monitor is a mounted to the ceiling. The TV mount is capable of collapsing and locking horizontal to the ceiling. It can rotate left and right. It is adjustable for laying down or sitting up.

Bathroom

The bathroom toilet was always a pain in the butt (a pun) . Living space in the other van builds was so limiting I had to shift the toilet around a lot. Sometimes, with the lid down, it doubled as a stool for cooking.

The new design moves the toilet completely out of the living space until it is needed. When I need the toilet, I pull the locking pin and slide it out.

Electrical

I purchased brand new wire and kits with the intention of designing my wiring system before building it.

I came up with the ideal of building two separate control systems.

1. The first one is responsible for managing power coming in from the solar panels. A switch on the board allow me to disconnect from the deep cycle batteries quickly for maintenance, upgrade, etc.
2. The second control board is responsible for managing both sides of the van.
3. The second board can disconnect power to any section of the van with the flip of a switch. This will allow for easy upgrades or maintenance.

There was also an upgrade to  my solar panels.

Roof

I bought 2 monocrystalline solar panels at 100 watts each. I stuck with Mono-crystalline solar panels because they work really well under overcast conditions. Which we have a lot in Washington State.

The factory roof rack works really well for the old solar panels but not for the newer ones. So I built a custom roof rack for it and used the support of the old rack to mount the rack to the van.

Maxx Fan

One of my favorite additions is the maxx fan.  I can adjust how much air is pulled in or out of the van. I can run the fan if it is raining outside. I have enough solar panels now where I can run it all day and still power things during the night.

Awning upgrade

Last year I added a new awning and sort of made a room out of it. I loved it because of the effect the UV protection provided. The mesh kept the sun off me and I’ve experienced deer walking close to my camp, so I assume they couldn’t see me.

I wanted a awning that was larger and could be extended with a tent. I am so happy I bought this awning. It has increased my comfort level and extended my privacy area substaintially.

I can either sleep outside or inside the van. I can walk around in underwear and not worry about privacy.

Storage Trunk

At one point I dragged around a trunk which contained a gas generator and a gas can. Items that could potentially introduce insects into my living space is kept there.

I added break lights, license plate shield, motion sensing security light and alarm to the box.

Since I purchase a generator that runs on propane I haven’t a need to carry around the trunk, but it’s available for going on longer trips.

Security

When I went boon-docking in the National Forest in 2019, Ollie was with me. I felt a little safe. I purchased outdoor portable motion sensors and added a 20lb magnet to the bottom of the light. I’d take the light and place them on the van. Anything approaching 50 feet the lights will come on.

When I returned home I added LED lights around the entire van that could be activated by a switch or motion sensors. I attached an alarm to the system so that I can be alerted.

In the 2021 redesign, I updated the lighting to a 90,000 lumens LED Off road lights to the new custom roof rack.